I will shortly put before you for consideration, the Directors Report and Statutory Accounts for the year ended 30 September 2004. Before doing so I would like to reflect briefly on the past year.

2004 was an excellent year with your Bank extending its record of uninterrupted profit growth to 19 years. This performance demonstrates the strength of the Bank's strategy and the real efforts made by our people to ensure its consistent delivery. The highlights of our performance this year include:

Profits

• Record pre-tax profits of Euro504.1m, an increase of 45%
• 'Like for like' profits (profits before general bad debt provisions) increased by 28%
• Cost/income ratio improved to 27.7%

• Record EPS of 114.53 cent
• Return on equity up to 35.3%
• Proposed final dividend of 15.04 cent, resulting in a total annual dividend of 22.56 cent, an increase of 20%

• Record growth in lending of Euro6.3Bn, representing an increase of 35%
• Non-performing loans account for 0.61% of closing customer loan balances (30 September 2003: 0.72%)
• Customer deposits increased by 34% to Euro19.5Bn
• Total Capital Ratio now stands at 13.9%
• Number of employees grew from 1,088 to 1,207

Business Lending

Business lending recorded the highest absolute level of net loan growth in the Bank's history of Euro6.3Bn and follows the previous record growth achieved of Euro4.6Bn in 2003. The continued strengthening of our franchise throughout our markets and the scalability of our business model is reflected in the 35% growth in loan balances which now stand at Euro24.4Bn. Asset quality, the cornerstone of long-term sustainable profit growth, remains excellent throughout all our operations. The Bank's focused offering positions it well to take advantage of future opportunities in its core lending markets.

Treasury

2004 was an excellent year for our Treasury division. Customer deposits grew by nearly Euro5Bn, an increase of 34% contributing to a record Euro6.7Bn growth in funding. In addition, Corporate Treasury Sales showed strong growth with revenues up some 30%.

The Bank's robust profitability, its excellent asset quality and its strengthening funding profile was reflected in the upgrade in March 2004 by Moody's Investors Service, the leading international credit rating agency, of the Group's long-term and short-term ratings to A2 and P-1 respectively.

The Bank further strengthened its capital base in the period through two very significant capital issues. In June 2004 the Group issued Euro750m of subordinated Tier 2 notes and in September 2004 the Group raised Euro600m of perpetual preferred Tier 1 eligible securities. Both transactions clearly demonstrate the Group's high standing in the capital markets. The Group's Total Capital Ratio now stands at 13.9%.

Wealth Management

The Group's Wealth Management division achieved strong revenue and profit growth. This illustrates the market position developed in the areas we have targeted. Servicing the high net worth sector, the division benefits from the clear synergies with the Bank's client base across other divisions, in particular our lending operations. Our centrally co-ordinated product offering, combined with expertise in chosen markets, provides significant opportunities for the future.

Dividends

You will recall that the total dividend for the year ended 30 September 2003 was increased by 50%, thereby establishing a higher base from which to continue our progressive dividend policy. The Board now recommends a final dividend of 15.04 cent per share, bringing total dividends for the year to 22.56 cent per share, representing a further increase of 20%. Our dividend cover remains strong at 5 times, reflecting the potential growth opportunities available to the Bank.

People

Sean FitzPatrick will today retire as Chief Executive of the Bank and become Non-executive Chairman. I referred in my recent statement to the achievements of the Bank under his leadership which began in 1986 - profits growing from just Euro1m to over Euro500m, the Group's market capitalisation increasing nearly 800 fold to some Euro6.3Bn today, thus placing the Bank as one of the best performing financial institutions in Europe and indeed beyond. I am sure that you will agree the scale of these accomplishments merits reflection here again today. However, the greatest measure of the Bank's success rests in its people and the culture fostered and developed by Sean and his team over the past 19 years. I believe these are the reasons for the Bank's success in the past and that these same reasons underpin the foundation on which it will continue to grow in the future.

I wish again, on behalf of your Board, our people and you the shareholders, to express our deepest gratitude to Sean for his years of dedication and the exceptional leadership and vision that have driven the success of Anglo Irish Bank over the past two decades. I am certain that our management team will maintain this course and also that the Board will continue to benefit from Sean's experience and counsel when he becomes Chairman.

David Drumm has been appointed to succeed Sean as Group Chief Executive. A member of the Strategic Management Board, David joined the Group in 1993 and held several senior positions in our Lending operations. Having established our US operations in Boston in the late 1990s he returned to Dublin in 2003 as Head of Lending. Your Board is delighted that David will lead the Bank and its talented team over the coming years and I would like to wish David all the very best as he assumes his new responsibilities.

I am also pleased to welcome Lar Bradshaw who is sitting here before you for the first time today having been appointed to your Board as a Non-executive Director in October 2004.

In my recent Chairman's Statement I thanked Tiarnan O Mahoney, who resigned from the Board in December 2004, for his enormous contribution to the Bank and I wish to reiterate our gratitude here today. I also wish to thank Anton Stanzel who retires today having served as Non-executive Director since 2001.

This is also my last time to stand before you today as Chairman and Director of Anglo Irish Bank. I wish to thank all of Anglo's people and my colleagues on the Board for raising the bar in terms of performance year after year. I wish to thank you, the shareholders, for your support of the Bank over the years and especially through my period as Chairman.

It has been a privilege to be associated with the Bank's success over the past 11 years and to work alongside such a dedicated, talented and focused team. I wish David and Sean every success in their new roles. I believe that the composition of your Board and management provides a strong and well-balanced leadership team for the future.

Maintaining our Focus

The Group's performance in 2004 and for many years has demonstrated the success of the Bank's clear strategy. Your Board and our people are confident that through its continued implementation the Bank can provide a differentiated and valuable offering to our customers and accordingly create increasing value for shareholders.

The Bank will continue to focus on its core businesses in its existing markets. This, we believe, will offer significant growth opportunities over the coming years. We will take advantage of the strength of our franchise in these markets and the growth opportunities they will naturally provide. Importantly, we will continue to remain vigilant on all risk issues and asset quality.

As always the Board's strategic objectives are based on organic growth. We will continue to evaluate acquisition opportunities as they arise, but we will only execute transactions which satisfy our long-term strategic objectives and meet the stringent criteria we impose.

Outlook

Looking forward, your Board is confident on the Bank's future prospects. By any benchmark your Bank is well placed. The strength and proven scalability of our business model will, we believe, enable us to continue to deliver excellent returns to our shareholders.

I reported to you in my recent Chairman's Statement that lending work in progress at 30 September 2004 stood at almost Euro4.1Bn, representing a record level for the Bank. I am now pleased to report to you that the Bank has made a very good start to the new financial year, enjoying strong trading activity across all divisions.

We look forward to your Bank continuing to build on the strong momentum of profit growth in 2005 and remain very positive on its ability to deliver value, to you our shareholders, over the coming years.

Peter Murray
Chairman

28 January 2005